He scratched back of his head.
“Huh? What are you angry about this time?”
Rain's eyes narrowed.
"If you are really the Lord of Shadow, one of the most fearsome champions of the Sword Army... then why the hell did you let me join the Song Army?! Did it not occur to you that being on the different sides of this damned war might pose a bit of a problem for us?!”
He looked at her with a strange expression.
"What do you mean? Of course, it did! Have you forgotten that I tried to dissuade you? But no, you just had to be all moral and righteous... I can't just sit on the sidelines! These are the people I know, and they will be the ones who suffer! I can't step back and do nothing! Those were your words... do you even know how loudly I was cursing on the inside while going on about how you are joining the war?"
Rain's eye twitched.
"Well... when you put it like that..."
Her teacher scoffed.
"But I couldn't very well stomp on your principles, so I kept quiet. Well, it doesn't matter that much, anyway. Who says that you and me being on different sides will become a problem? Me and me are on different sides as well, and I'm not worried."
Hearing that last sentence, Rain felt a strong headache.
As if it made sense!
It was too bizarre.
Not only had her teacher been living several lives at the same time, but one of his incarnations was even a general of the opposing army... the most feared general of them all! The very same sinister Saint who had just attacked the supply caravan of Song.
The incriminating evidence was right here an entire mountain of stolen... commandeered, as he had called it... supplies.
And he had not even taken them in the name of the Sword Army. He had just hoarded them for himself!
Her eyes trembled.
‘My teacher... is a bandit! He's a shameless, flagrant highwayman!’
But then again, that one actually wasn't that surprising. Quite the opposite, really.
She could believe it easily. That sounded exactly like something her teacher would do...
Rain took a deep breath.
‘So
Her teacher was pretending to be a sellsword Saint who had been hired by the King of Swords. He was also the Knight Commander of the Great Clan Valor. He was also the Memory Purveyor - whatever that meant - of the Ivory Island, which was Changing Star's own Citadel.
And he was a master chef somewhere in Bastion on top of that!
‘Right.’
It was going to take her some time to come to terms with these facts.
‘Just as expected from a dark deity.’
No... was he really a dark deity?
Suddenly, Rain came to realize that she knew very little about her teacher, despite spending almost every day of these past four years in his company.
She took a deep breath and looked at him soberly.
After hesitating for a while, Rain asked:
"Teacher... who are you, really?”